Breaking Down the Super Team Formula

Today we have a guest blog from Earl Bell:

If you would like to employ a practical model for increasing the collective effectiveness of your employees while enhancing a strong and vibrant culture, consider building a Super Team of employees at your company by using this formula to transform ordinary performance into extraordinary results:

SUPER TEAM FORMULA

ST = (E1*E2)*(TCCC)/BSF

Each of the factors in this formula is described below:

SUPER TEAM FACTORS

• ST – Super Team.  Building a super team makes running a business easier, more fun and more profitable.

• E1 – Employee engagement. According to both national and regional research studies performed in the last year, over 70% of employees are disengaged at work. If your company is an exception to the rule, then congratulations are in order.  If this is not the case, what are you doing as a leader to inverse this statistic?

• E2 – Employee effectiveness. What are you doing to help employees become better and more valuable at their jobs?  A personalized plan for cross training, professional development, leadership and/or management training, and technical skills enhancement are all specific examples of what should be budgeted for and scheduled out over the calendar year.

• TCCC – Team chemistry, commitment and connection.  How intentional are you at building vibrant company culture?  What are you doing to improve chemistry, commitment and connection between and amongst employees?  Absent a plan to develop and enhance company culture, you will witness drift from the founding culture to something that may be neither desired nor beneficial.  Don’t let this happen in your company.

• BSF – BS factor. What are you doing to eliminate bull%^*$ from your company?  If you don’t know what BS is in the workplace… then you have a “Best Place to Work!”

APPLYING THE SUPER TEAM FORMULA

The goal of course is to increase the Super Team factor in your company. To do this, increase E1, E2 and TCCC. Reduce the BSF.

NEXT STEPS

Will you invest the time to individually assess each employee in terms of how they score within each of the Super Team factors?  Will you develop a plan to rid the company of toxic employees so that investment of time and money into the development of productive employees produces tangible benefits and results?  Who will lead this charge?  How will you determine appropriate investment of time and money?  How will you measure Return on Investment?   My advice is to get excited about undertaking this very important initiative and get started today.  

Everyone will have fun along the way and be thrilled with the results when employees congeal and become a Super Team!

EARL BELL

EARL BELL is the author of, Winning in Baseball and Business, Transforming Little League Principles into Major League Profits for Your Company, which provides a roadmap to success for leaders that desire to build thriving companies in a very competitive 21^stcentury business environment.  Earl believes that “everything you need to know about business, leadership and team building can be learned from Little League baseball.”

Earl conducts workshops, coaches and consults with owners, business leaders and their teams, teaching them how to dramatically reduce the time it takes to improve profitability, customer experience, employee engagement and company value, while simultaneously increasing discretionary time and reducing both stress/employee burnout.  He believes the secret to winning in baseball, business and life can be summarized in a simple formula:  Winning = Service + Humility. His motto is that Winning in Business is a Team Sport!

Earl has served in the Chief Financial Officer role for numerous companies throughout North America. His personal passion is youth sports and he has coached 28 teams since 2002.  Earl is a CPA, graduated from SU (Seattle University) with a BA in Accounting and from the MILL (Mercer Island Little League) with a Master’s in Youth Baseball.

Earl Bell can be reached at earl@earlbell.com and 206-420-5946

Why the Right Attitude Builds Super Teams

Today we have a guest blog from Earl Bell:

Building a super team in the workplace (compared to a very average team) comes down to having (or not having): (1) talented employees with (2) the right attitude.  Both characteristics are important but I’ll take the right attitude over talent any day.  The right attitude builds super teams!

To use a metaphor that goes back to the day of coaching select players on super-teams in the world of youth baseball, we had the best team strengthening conversations after each practice and game.  They usually lasted less than 10 minutes but I believe them to be most important 10 minutes we could ever spend as a team.   By the way, these players and teams later competed in Cooperstown, NY and the Little League World Series.

Our format was always the same:  First, the players would take turns talking about what they saw another teammate do either during the practice or game that was exceptional or noteworthy.  No player was allowed to talk about themselves.  Second, each player was given opportunity to point out one thing they could have done better and will commit to, so that they can improve the next time…

So what were the outcomes of these meetings?  First, players offered personal observations about why their teammates and team were awesome.  This part of the meeting couldn’t help but pump up the team and reinforce positive behaviors.  Second, each player owned up to what they could control and do to become a better player and teammate.  This brought accountability and exposed each individual’s desire and commitment to help the team succeed at the next game or tournament competition.

The desire to compete and win, be part of a team and get better each day applies in both sports and business.  In the business world, sharing publicly when employees truly appreciate their co-workers achievements and success is extremely powerful.  Building a culture of trust where employees openly can talk about what they will do to get better creates a dynamic where the greatest fear for an employee is not letting themselves down, but instead letting their teammates down, is a powerful element of team building. 

You want employees that have the strength, persistence and desire to be a great teammate.  This job is not for everyone.  However, this is exactly what part of the job description should be for your employees, if you want to compete and win in the game of business.  What are you currently doing to create a super-team at your place of business?  What can you do in the future to improve upon what you are currently doing?  What is the value to your business in “getting it right?”  What is the cost to your business if you “get it wrong?” 

EARL BELL

EARL BELL is the author of, Winning in Baseball and Business, Transforming Little League Principles into Major League Profits for Your Company, which provides a roadmap to success for leaders that desire to build thriving companies in a very competitive 21^stcentury business environment.  Earl believes that “everything you need to know about business, leadership and team building can be learned from Little League baseball.”

Earl conducts workshops, coaches and consults with owners, business leaders and their teams, teaching them how to dramatically reduce the time it takes to improve profitability, customer experience, employee engagement and company value, while simultaneously increasing discretionary time and reducing both stress/employee burnout.  He believes the secret to winning in baseball, business and life can be summarized in a simple formula:  Winning = Service + Humility. His motto is that Winning in Business is a Team Sport!

Earl has served in the Chief Financial Officer role for numerous companies throughout North America. His personal passion is youth sports and he has coached 28 teams since 2002.  Earl is a CPA, graduated from SU (Seattle University) with a BA in Accounting and from the MILL (Mercer Island Little League) with a Master’s in Youth Baseball.

Earl Bell can be reached at  earl@earlbell.com and 206-420-5946